Francois Cousteix - who went by the online name of Hacker Croll - has been charged and released on bail after police tracked him down.

The 25-year-old - who claims he is "a nice pirate" - had managed to access the personal accounts of celebrities by guessing the answers to their security questions which users are asked if they cannot remember their password.

"I am not a hacker. I did not want to destroy anything," he says.

Francois, due to stand trial in June, faces up to two years in prison if found guilty of illegally accessing a computing system.